Politics, Editorials & Letters

The Honourable Andrew Scheer, Leader of Canada’s Conservatives and the Official Opposition, issued a statement on the CN Rail Strike: “The CN strike is hurting all aspects of our economy, from agriculture, to manufacturing, to mining. That is why Justin Trudeau must recall Parliament as soon as possible to enact emergency legislation to get the rail cars moving again. “In ...

The NDP MPP for Sudbury, Jamie West, blasted the Ford government during question period Tuesday for suggesting that the current state of treacherous and poorly maintained winter roads in northern Ontario is good enough for Northerners.   Last week, the Ford government unanimously voted against a bill from NDP MPP Guy Bourgouin (Mushkegowuk—James Bay), the Making Northern Ontario Highways Safer Act — ...

New information revealed by the NDP shows that Doug Ford blew almost a quarter of a billion dollars ripping up green energy contracts. Peter Tabuns, Ontario NDP Energy critic, blasted Ford today in question period for burning through $231 million in taxpayer dollars while Ontario families struggle to afford high hydro prices that keep going up on Ford’s watch. The ...

You know, you don’t need to have your PhD in psychology or Master of Education to know the best way to bring about the behaviours in others that you want. I’ll prove it to you right here. Let’s say you want your child to develop the habit of making his bed before school or hanging up her coat when she ...

During Monday’s question period, Windsor West MPP Lisa Gretzky, the NDP Official Opposition critic for Community and Social Services, asked the Ford government why it is spending $1 million to hire a consultant to help it cut even more funding from supports for people with developmental disabilities. Gretzky also asked why the winner of that million-dollar contract was instructed not ...

To the Honourable Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada: It has become exhausting facing the mounting challenges on our family owned remote tourist business after the ACR passenger train service was cancelled. When the Federal Government and CN did this it compromised our Northern identity. Railmark’s attempted take-over of the service was a total disaster – they didn’t have their ...

Appelez-moi un rêveur ou un idéaliste, si vous voulez. J’ai certainement été appelé bien pire. Je suis fier de porter un tel surnom, car je vis ici au Canada. Je sais que je ne suis pas seul. En fait, je pense que l’un de nos plus grands atouts, en tant que Canadiens, est de croire qu’il faut faire ce qui ...

Call me a dreamer or idealist, if you will. I’ve certainly been called much worse. I am proud to wear such a moniker because living here in Canada, I’m happy to say I am certainly not alone. In fact, I think one of our greatest traits as Canadians is to believe in doing what is right and that brighter days ...

As the Federal political parties count down to the October election, they must have policy positions that speak to all national issues. Access to transportation is important to Canadians everywhere.  It would be valuable to learn the leaders’ positions on transportation access to the remote northern communities, and whether or not, they have formed an opinion on the use of ...

By, Rob Keen, Registered Professional Forester and CEO of Forests Ontario and Forest Recovery Canada Good news is rare, though it seems like nearly every day for the past few weeks there have been new commitments by global leaders to fight climate change by planting huge numbers of trees. In my 38 years as a forester, I’ve never experienced enthusiasm ...

A while ago I was bemoaning to my former teacher friend how exhausting my schedule has been this summer. But I also realized that travelling and attending meetings and events six days a week is really just a part of the job. My friend said immediately that he understood what I was saying because back when he was a teacher ...

Dear Brenda, For the third time in 10 days, I’ve heard this story There a rooster on the loose at SPG, There’s a rooster half-starved and on the loose out by the greenhouses I caught a starving rooster out by the dump can you take it. So what gives Wawa? You all get on the “organic is better” bandwagon. Order ...

It may not be obvious to most since very few attend council meetings, but some very good projects seemed to have been very quietly set aside.  Two of these were very important; the Municipal Organization & Compensation Study/Review and the development of a Community Hub. In 2017, Council budgeted for and approved funds to conduct an Organizational & Compensation Study/Review. ...

For the life of me, I wasn’t able at first why I was hearing people singing or humming and even two or three bopping to the tune of the Happy Days show theme. You know the one with starring Richie Cunningham, the Fonz and all the others from Milwaukee. I mean, it’s not exactly on the TV show ratings radar anymore. ...

A friend of mine is a retired school teacher. He once told me about a former principal that he worked under that would wish the staff and students a Happy New Year on the first day of school. This week, Andrea Horwath convened our summer caucus retreat in Thunder Bay where we meet to discuss issues and make plans as we ...